FILM REVIEW: Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge (12A)

Yes that loveable rascal Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is back and this time finds the winds of ill-fortune blowing on him even more strongly then in his previous sea-faring scrapes.

It seems that a crew of deadly ghost pirates led by his old nemesis, Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem), have escaped from the Devil’s Triangle ... now every pirate at sea is a marked man and it’s not long before the pirate terminating baddies start to close in on Jack – aided by another of enemy Captain Barbossa (Geoffery Rush).

What’s a rum sozzled pirate to do but try and find a mythical, all powerful artifact that bestows upon its possessor total control over the seas ... so the race is on to try and find the legendary Trident of Poseidon. That’s pretty much the plot.

Along the way Captain Jack teams up with Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites), son of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) who is still languishing on the cursed Flying Dutchman, and cool girl power Carina Smith (Kaya Scodelario), a pretty astrologist and horologist who, due to her intelligence that scares the men around her is deemed to be a witch.

This new Pirates movie could have been a cash-in but it’s pleasing for fans to find that there has at least been some effort put in to make it tie up lots of loose plot points from the franchise so far.

It works a lot better than the last instalment which I’ve already forgotten but there’s nothing here except for a superb opening bank heist that’ll be regarded as classic scenes in the Pirates world.

Depp’s Captain Jack has become a parody of himself – his perma-drunk status and unfunny jokes aren’t as fun as they used to be.

The good news is that series newcomer Scodelario stands out and steals all her scenes – she’s a much more believable heroine than Kiera Knightley (who pops up at one point for old times sake).

All aboard for lightweight piratey fun then ...

Rating 3/5

Review by Matt Adlock